Some car owners who have the petrol option have stopped using CNG kits.

Despite the government's push to green fuels, Mumbaikars who own CNG vehicles have been having a tough time, what with insufficient gas stations and unending queues at pumps. As a result, some of them who have dual petrol-CNG cars have stopped using their CNG kits entirely.

One such example is Commodore M Bhada (Retd), a Nepean Sea Road resident, who stopped using CNG for his sedan six months ago. And he isn’t the only one.

“The government strongly encourages the use of CNG, but regrettably, it is not easily available owing to limited dispensing stations compared to the large number of CNG- fitted commercial vehicles, including taxis. I have a CNG kit fitted in my petrol-driven personal car, but have not been able to fill gas in the cylinder for six months because of the long line of waiting taxis. The time taken by each vehicle is between eight and 10 minutes. Even if you are only fifth in queue, that translates into a waiting time of around 45 minutes before your turn comes. We, therefore, operate on petrol, defeating the very purpose of having CNG,” Bhada said.

Bhada said he has written to the Ministry of Petroleum to make special queues for private CNG vehicles at fuel pumps to avoid long waiting. “If all CNG pumps could have a fixed point for private cars, this problem would be solved easily. In case there is no private car waiting, they can continue using it for taxis and commercial vehicles. Should aprivate car arrive, it should be taken on as soon as the taxi/commercial vehicle has vacated that point,” he wrote.

The vehicles, not more than eight years old, will now be tested once every two years instead of the earlier annual requirement.

Chartered accountant Ajit Joshi from Vile Parle has had a similar experience. “At a time, only 7 to 8 kg of gas can be filled, since the pressure at gas stations may not be enough. This gives a 100- to 120-km drive on city roads, and then you need a refill which, in a city, happens in a couple of days. One refill takes 30 to 45 minutes. So it is not practical to run your car on CNG regularly, especially if you don’t have a driver. With drivers, it becomes more expensive than a petrol car,” Joshi said.

Even taxi drivers have been facing problems, but have no fallback plan like private vehicle owners. “I have been driving taxis from the 1990s, but CNG has made it worst. It takes an hour to fill gas, and we have to do this thrice in 24 hours. Also, fuel stations are so congested we have to stand on the road, and that creates traffic problems for other vehicles. Out of four filling points at every pump, only one or two work, slowing down the process further,” said Suresh Pal, a taxi driver from Wadala.

CNG costs about Rs 20 per kg, but the long waiting period to fill gas has become a major issue for private vehicles. Converting a petrol car into CNG costs from Rs 25,000 to 50,000, depending upon the quality of materials and the cylinder’s capacity. There are about 130 CNG pumps in Mumbai, and more than 250 petrol pumps.

Mumbai Taximen Union leader AL Quadros said gas supply and its pressure at fuel stations are major problems. “The gas supply is not sufficient, and the pressure is also low, which forces taximen to fill less than required. We have been raising the issue with the government since CNG has been made compulsory for public transport,” Quadros told Mirror.

M Venkatrao, of the Petrol Dealers’ Association, agreed there were problems in using CNG, but denied knowledge of people having shifting to using petrol. “Not many people are shifting back to petrol from CNG. But there are practical difficulties. The 10 to 15-minute wait to fill gas, limited space at petrol pumps and low pressure are some of the issues. Also, south Mumbai has a very few gas stations, so CNG users are forced to go to other parts of the city to fill gas," he said.